After finishing his illustrious career Tim Duncan will be remembered as the best power forward in NBA history and a player who was fortunate enough to play basketball over a span of 3 decades. Duncan was drafted to the NBA back in 1997 when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were ruling the league so he was able to play against the best of the best in his long career.
In an interview, he did as a talented rookie, Duncan was asked about Jordan and how everyone in the media and among the fans was impressed with him. In his own style, Duncan said he was one of the rare people who didn’t find Michael Jordan impressive and he wasn’t infatuated with his presence after their first encounter.
“But Jordan’s Jordan. I’ve always respected him but I’ve never been a fan of his.”
Duncan would continue saying he respects Jordan and what he did for the game but was never a fan of his. In his own recognizable demeanor back when he was a 21-year-old Duncan said he isn’t impressed with anybody in this world.
“No, I don’t like Michael Jordan because I don’t like Michael Jordan. You got me wrong there. I respect Michael Jordan. I’m just somebody that isn’t that impressed by him. There really isn’t anybody in the world I’m impressed with.”
At that time he admired two players quite a bit and they were Abdul Rahim and Stephon Marbury but believed the future of the league will be in Kobe Bryant’s and Kevin Garnett’s hands. At that time Duncan thought they would continue having great careers and that was not far from the truth, especially for Marbury who also made a name for himself in China as well.
“Abdur-Rahim and Stephon Marbury. Stephon Marbury is the bomb. He is going to be so good. And let’s see. I think Kevin Garnett is going to be really good at some point. But I think the whole. …KG and Kobe are going to be the guys.”
Coming into the league Duncan was incredibly humble and never said he was better than any of these names he mentioned. Now, 20 years later you can definitely argue that his career was better than every single player that entered the NBA during those years. The only thing Duncan really wished for was an NBA championship because he said he would feel incomplete without it and he even accomplished winning it 5 times during his incredible career.